Mostly: Classical

[Sexton O Blake]

To short or not too short? Tech anyone?

Along the same lines is the trading of options. Years ago Corel would either "beat" or "disappoint" and it was a toss up. Oracle another example. So you could try to play - "I think they will disappoint" - but it was a crap shoot.

But the worse thing was, they would "pre-announce" and then that would instantly screw your option assuming you bet the other way.

So the first question is - WHY NO PRE-ANNOUNCEMENTS on this stuff now? It is ok to disappoint with a pre-announcement but not to pre-announce better than expected earnings? (Read: F-ING KEY-RAP!)

So speaking of Nortel - yeah I should of got some under $1.. around $3.. around $5.. around $7.. but what about now?

Was that Verizon deal all that great?

I think it is all garbage - look at RIM. A comment a few times is - "overvalued".. well that was probably true at $40. Now $115 and still rising. Something like $1M subscribers. But then if TECH is coming back, those firms will provide these devices to their people. But then again, aren't they farming off tech to India and China? The price of these things (monthly) isn't cheap. You must be online all the time.

With RIM, I am not buying any, but so tempted to look at PUTS - or at least - be prepared for a blow off and perhaps ride it down a bit. But alas the rides are swift - waste of time.

In the long run it is better to see a company like Cisco "meet or beat" each quarter and just keep betting on that consistency instead of investing in companies that are not predictable.

So do you Michael or anyone else have any views on this stuff?

Another angle are the Holdrs -- hold a position as core and then play the smaller guys. Stocks like Nortel could hit $12 in the next few days and be back at $7 by the end of Feb. (PMZ for sure.. har har)

Nortel is here (BDH)
http://www.holdrs.com/holdrs/main/index.asp?Action=HOLDROutstanding&SubAction=BDH&HoldrName=....

RIM is here (WMH)
http://www.holdrs.com/holdrs/main/index.asp?Action=HOLDROutstanding&SubAction=WMH&HoldrName=....

Read this one:
http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040130/tech_nortel_stock_1.html

National Bank Financial analyst Tom Astle raised his price target to $8.50 from $6.50 and reiterated its "outperform" rating.

It is $8.03US now!! 47 cents more? Yeah right! Either I would be a stupid ass believing such nonsense or Tom is the biggest Ass*hole (sounds similar to his last name though).

Prudential Equity analyst Inder Singh raised his price target to $10 from $7 and reiterated his "overweight" rating.
Go Inder.. Go Inder.. its your birthday.. Go Inder.. its your birthday..

Anyahoo.. part of me says -- buy some NT now.. if it drops pick up some more. -- assuming Nortel is back and will be hitting $20 sooner than later. But I am sure there is better JUNK to make money with.

Comments welcome.. (ha.. probably every other thread on the planet has people buying Nortel.. CHUCKLE)

SoB

[EDIT.. Hey Fity...]